Featured is a Rare, very likely custom, one-of-a-kind, micro miniature copy of Schloss's English Bijou Almanac for 1837, published by Albert Schloss, Fancy Stationer to Her Royal Highness, the Duchess of Kent. "Poetically illustrated" with verse by L.E.L. (Poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon), with engraved plates of the aristocracy and the country's celebrities, as well as the script, being engraved by Benjamin Reese Davies. While Davies was the engraver for the entire Almanac Run, Landon would pass away in 1838 and the next "poetic illustrator" would be Irish Poet, Samuel Lovers.
The Almanac was consistently published with flexible, albeit stiff, paper wraps ... sometimes even a simulated leather. This Almanac, produced for the 2nd year of its publication, proves a "first" and is a mystery ... with some clues attendant. The subject Almanac is covered in a very rich burgundy cloth, which cloth was then decorated with thin sheets of metal. The same goes for the companion slipcase.
*** The foregoing become yet more "interesting" when one unexpectedly encounters, almost as a "colophon" (rather than as a presentation inscription on the beginning pages of a tome) the inscription seen in the last picture: "Linnaeus To Fanny".
The name "Linnaeus" brings one man in history to mind (if you've had a lot of biology courses and are familiar with natural history bibliography): Swedish biologist and physician, Carl Linnaeus, who is also known as "the Father of Taxonomy" (naming of organisms). By 1837, he had been dead for 59 years.
In checking to see what connection "Linnaeus" had to the year 1837, it turns out that is the year Jardine's Biography of Linnaeus, complete with his renown portrait of the man, was published to great acclaim. William Jardine, the 7th Baronet of Applegarth was himself a man of science, being a prominent - even in his time - naturalist, author, artist, and publisher (he even edited and published a Farmer's Almanac).
By all historical accounts, Jardine was happily married to his wife, Jane, until she died in 1871. They had married in 1820 and had seven children. He died three years after she passed away; he did manage to remarry in that time.
Back to our Almanac. The link between our 1837 Almanac and Linnaeus is quite possibly Jardine. The cover of the book is custom decorated with a Rose and Scotch Thistles. He was Scottish. A big rose hints at love. The bird on the slipcase is delivering a message. I don't know if he called his wife Fanny ... there are no records that show such ... I don't think any of his daughters was known by the name ... even as a nickname. And a common nickname it was "back when". But who knows? An inscription tucked away on the last pages of a custom-made miniature Almanac (and one would think one would have to have dollars and clout to obtain such an item), tucked away in a slipcase, with the inscriber referring to himself as Linnaeus. Paramour? Daughter? Definitely a two hundred year old mystery ... that makes this Almanac, rare as it is already, one juicy, neat little item!!
The book is more specifically known as belonging to the collecting category of Microbibliography, a category which I both professionally sold and collected.
Original Bijou Almanacs were sold in a slipcase that mimicked the book's decoration ... sometimes even in a velvet case that contained a micro magnifying glass that enabled the reading of the Almanac's tiny print by the recipient. Schloss's Almanac proved quite an industry of itself.
The "Bijou" Almanac (so named for two reasons ... because each issue was a tiny jewel unto itself and it featured human "jewels" of the Kingdom. Albert Schloss published the engraved almanacs between 1836 and 1843. The tiny books were indeed gems when it came to "engraving, illustration, binding and presentation." ... this according to Bondy on Miniature Books. Further, they were considered "A miracle of fine and delicate engraving, done
consistently and beautifully to an almost unbelievably tiny scale."
(Percy E. Spielmann). The subject listing was the last published by Schloss and is rare. Printing of "The Bijou Almanac" was resumed in 1845 by publisher T. Goode, yet another publisher with close ties to the Royal Family.
In "Inches" lingo, the micro book measures 5/8" x 6/8" x 2/8".
This little treat has been in my personal collection for approximately 30 years. It is obviously Rare and a unique item for the collector. Hope we whetted your interest and appetite a bit
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